Is it just me, or is it hot in the “Tube“?

Comparison:

Creators are the coal shovelers who have allowed YouTube to move so far so fast, except the railroads used to pay their boilermen a wage. Creators work for free . . .

Time magazine writer Belinda Luscombe reaches in her comparison to 19th Century rail life to describe the importance of video creators to YouTube's wild success story of late. YouTube creators--especially the exceptionally successful ones--may not notice the unrewarded sweat. Time for a whistle-stop stop?

Context:

Creators are the coal shovelers who have allowed YouTube to move so far so fast, except the railroads used to pay their boilermen a wage. Creators work for free, in the hope that enough people will want to watch their channel to draw in advertisers and sponsors. Since they are assuming all the risk, it's important that [Neal] Mohan is around to reassure them that their work has value.

Citation:

Luscombe, Belinda. “CEO of the Year.“ Time, 29 Dec. 2025, p. 56.

(Graphic image design by Lee Aigue; initial visual image courtesy of Bing, Jan. 2026.)